The recall has sparked questions and unease from the beginning – the first person to become ill from eating tainted meat was a young Alberta girl who fell ill on Sept. 4. Health warning were later issued on Sept. 16, cautioning consumers about certain packets of ground beef.

All-out recalls were finally implemented by the CFIA, and have been coming steadily for nearly three weeks and every day for the last four days, reaching a scale never before seen in Canadian history.

Shortly after, authorities on the U.S. side of the border came under fire for what critics described as a 'stunningly' slow response to the presence of the bacteria coming into the country from Canada.

Alberta health officials originally said they were dealing with a typical number of E. coli cases for a typical September in Alberta, and assured the public none could be tied to the tainted beef coming from the Brooks plant. Health officials now confirm five cases have been linked to meat processed at the southern Alberta facility.

The one silver lining in the affair so far may be the fact that buyers of Canadian beef will likely not be by swayed the scare.

Buyers know what is happening in Alberta is possible and probable and aren’t shaken when they hear of such incidents, Kevin Grier, senior market analyst for Canadian agriculture think-tank George Morris Centre, told Reuters.